时间:2019-01-26 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力文摘 English Digest


英语课

  Ya?l: [In a "baby talk" cooing voice] Ready for a moment of science?

D: Sure, Ya?l, but why are you talking to me like I'm a baby?

Y: [Regular voice] Just making a point Don. Why did you think I was talking as if you were a baby?

D: Hmmm. Because of the high, cooing tone you used?

Y: You're not the only one who recognizes those features as "baby talk." Two studies, one in humans and one in rhesus monkeys, suggest that the tones mothers use to address babies are more universal than previously 1 thought.

A group of researchers recorded English-speaking mothers saying the same sentences to babies and to adults. The recordings 2 were then played to indigenous 3 villagers in remote Ecuador.

Even though the villagers did not understand English, they could correctly identify whether the speaker was addressing a child or an adult seventy-three-percent of the time.

A different team of scientists studied the role of certain high-pitched, melodic 4 sounds called "girneys" and grunts 5 in wild rhesus monkeys. Even though these calls were rarely produced before the birth season, once the first infants were born, the calls were used in abundance.

When infants wandered away from their mothers, other females kept a close eye on them and called with grunts and girneys as they watched them. In response, the infants looked back at the callers. The observations suggest that these particular calls are directed at, and attractive to infants rather than to other mothers. In that way, the grunts and girneys are similar to human "baby talk."

D: So "baby talk" may be closer to animal communication than to language?

Y: There is still much to learn, but it is something to consider next time you're cooing at a baby.



adv.以前,先前(地)
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片
  • a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
  • old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐
adj.土产的,土生土长的,本地的
  • Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
  • Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。
adj.有旋律的,调子美妙的
  • His voice had a rich melodic quality.他的音色浑厚而优美。
  • He spoke with a soft husky voice in a melodic accent.他微微沙哑的声音带着一种悠扬的口音。
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说; 石鲈
  • With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着,伸个懒腰坐了起来。
  • Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。
学英语单词
acenaphthenes
Agats
ammonchelidonic acid
apoaequorin
bacmicetin
bipolar cell
brevi manu
broadcast sowing machine
built-in motor drive
butter (parchment) paper
chirurgie
citizen governance
cluster water
coefficient of moisture permeability
colloid meal
counterbalancing
Cpes
current measuring instrument
dagans
dashing leather
de-Sunnified
dendrolites
DHL courier service
educology
empty receptacle
equal pay for equal work?
eskimo cloth
excess issue
exodetrinite
fluorescence-activated cell sorter
fortunato
gain recovery
germanischer lloyd (gl)
gross production efficiency
Hardeeville
harmane
huntingtins
ideal realism
immunomodulator
insulation oil
LFAB
look-up routine
manhigh balloon flight
metempsychosis
micro disk transistor
mikhail bakunins
Monbahus
moritz den
Mysovka
nappekyn
narrow hook rule
neutropoietin
Note-row
nutribility
olenick
orthoptoscope
peltas
perceived control
philostephanus ovalis
picture specification table
pokeweed families
Porteus maze tests
pouchitis
pressure defined chamber
pto lever
research value
residence routine
retarded menstruation due to deficiency of blood
retirement-savings
ring unit
runy
scattering absorption
school-linked services
scopornetry
selectwomen
Sinapis juncea L.
speck dyeing
split ring clutch
standard counting error
standheight diameter
stimulte
Taklimakan Desert
tallying
Tambovka
taper of web diameter
the Midland
thorium resources
tithely
transmission tie-points
triacanthodids
TV mannequin
two way radio communication
tyre crane
unsatisfied chemical bond
valises
VHTR (very high temperature gas cooled reactor)
waist high
water-stop
wet leaves
wifty-wafty
Xuan-tong
year-end audit